I recently noticed a few of my fish twitching thier heads in a pretty fast motion, is this a symptom of something particular? I read here that this happens with ick but the tank was treated for that not all too long ago. All fish look very healthy and show no signs of anything else. Any info on this would be appreciated!

Most parasites dont make them shake their heads unless they have gill flukes..They could be shaking to a female, but this usually involves the hole body..You can run a parasite med through the tank AFTER a water change and see if that does not help the head shaking. MOST worms and flukes are two small to see with the human eye. fish behavoir is the only way to really tell..It wil not hurt your fish to treat for a parasite, but make sure you READ the meds before you add them to the tank that they KILL out flukes and does not harm your BIO in the tank..

I was wondering barb, do males shake to intice only females, or do they shake in front of other males also? I'm wondering because I haven't been able to sex my cichlids yet and have one shaking in front of the other, but it isn't the "dominant" one in the tank.

Barb Okla Wrote:-------------------------------------------------------> Most parasites dont make them shake their heads> unless they have gill flukes..They could be> shaking to a female, but this usually involves the> hole body..You can run a parasite med through the> tank AFTER a water change and see if that does not> help the head shaking. MOST worms and flukes are> two small to see with the human eye. fish behavoir> is the only way to really tell..It wil not hurt> your fish to treat for a parasite, but make sure> you READ the meds before you add them to the tank> that they KILL out flukes and does not harm your> BIO in the tank..>> NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE KNOWLEDGE OF A WOMAN> My site, great links:> Cichlasoma Citrinellum Mom and Dad Midas by> nesting pot, Dec 05:>

Thanks Barb, might you have a recommendation on meds for this problem?

I have a problem with "whole-body twitching" with my blue johanni. I saw that you stated they may do this to a female. The other cichlids in our tank are an elec. yellow, and an albino. Would the blue johanni twitch to either of those?

Yes, if they are females, Males will body twitch to ALL females in the tank.. I see my young coblats do this to the others in the tank, the other females usually just swim off or their species males come alone and run them off..this is a Normal behavor for males...

Thank you, and this may seem like a dumb question. How do you know if they are males or females? We want to be sure, and is this suppose to always happen. I noticed this morning that the elec. yellow has started now too. They are doing this even when no other fish are near, so could that be a problem? Petco said it doesn't sound like ich, but if we wanted to we could treat the tank, and only use have the dosage.

I've noticed while my male mbuna's most definately shake to attract a female, some aggressive fish (specifically the socolofi and demasoni in my tank) will shake as a threat gesture and follow it up with an attack if the target doesn't back off (the species of the recepient is usually irrevelant).

I have confirmed females (noteably my socolofi) do this on a regular basis, so I know they aren't males attempting to attract females. I have other fish that shake to attract only (I've never seen any of my zebras or acei do the threat shake, but they frequently shake to attract).

I recall reading somewhere that these shaking displays, in addition to being a visual signal, also emit mini-vibrations in the water that are detected by the recipient's lateral line, and emit pheromones (which I think are a hormone-based scent which relay a specific message) as well.

I would be concerned if a mbuna is twitching or shaking in a non-communicative way (i.e., doing it for no apparent reason and with no other fish in its vicinity). I've seen other types of fish twitch violently, then bolt around the tank and just die.

Ich does not make them shake in place..it makes them rub on the decorations and dart off (flashing) of them trying to scrape off the affending itch..IF they are NOT doing this, then it is a mating signal and I wouldn't TREAT the tank for something they dont' have..After a water change triggers spawning for some reason..Probley the delution of Nitrates and others that are in the water that build up in a weeks time between water changes..Mine are all doing the same, MY young males are really getting their hormones going and shaking to all the other species females around them.. IF you have a HIGH pH, 8.2 and up, I do recommend the use of Aqua-Sol in your tank monthly to control ICH, Velvet and a few more pests that like to get ahold of mbunas..I dont' care how much you clean the tank, they always seem to come down with something...

Females usually have less egg spots than the males. At a young age they do seem to have NONE to one egg spot and develope more egg spots as they get older, this also depends on the species on how many egg spots a female wil have from Juvenile size to adult..The Males do get an egg spot first and grow faster than the females..The Females also hide as they are pursued by the males to spawn..This is why they shake to get the female to spawn, but if she is not ready, she wil swim off and he will chase her..Kay-bee brought up a good point on releasing MALE chems in the water to stimulate the female OR signal her to spawn..

my blue dolpin shakes his head and opens his mouth when he does it. none of my others do it. so i dont know if its parasites of hes got his eye on a female parrot hybrid (his only tank mate) in that tank.

Head shaking with your female red? american cichlid in the tank, which is a BIG NO NO, could be other reasons, even thou it is a female, he could still want to spawn with her and not sure if he should or not.. could be the color of the parrot and he just shakes his head wondering what to do..

The fish experts, say all fish are color blind.. As we really do not know for sure, I would say they see some color but not like we do as I see my fish interact with others and most stay with their own kind if U have more of the same in the tank.. I know American and African cichlids do NOT interact well with others of different species in the same tank, color difference or not.. So they know their own kind very well.. Color? body style?? well, only they know for sure and they are not talking! Ha ha..

My dolphin males would shake their heads mostly at the females due to their size.. BUT sometimes their tails would wiggle too along with their heads..

Yours could be a warning for the parrot to keep clear.. NOT sure, only U know how they get along as in her close to him or stays mostly to her self..

No parasites.. Normal for them to yawn just like us..

WOW! 6 yr old post!! Time sure flys!! OR swims off rather faster than we like!!